It isn't a girl, is it?
by ironic toaster
Summary: Harry begins to have strange, unexplained feelings for Draco. Implied slash, nothing dodgy.
1. It isn't a girl, is it?

Disclaimer: I own none of these people… though if possible I'd like them for Christmas.

The clock on the wall beside Harry Potter ticked loudly and repetitively- irritating him until he slammed his book ('curses, hexes, and East Mongolian troll rites') shut in frustration and stood up to leave the library. From where she sat beside him, partly obscured from view by a mountainous stack of books, Hermione Granger looked up in surprise.

"What has gotten into you lately, Harry?" she asked him, indicating a mixture of curiosity and annoyance.

"I just.. I dunno, work and stuff" mumbled Harry, awkwardly.

Hermione paused, considering this ambiguous answer. Her voice softened slightly, she inquired "it isn't a girl, is it, Harry?"

Slightly taken aback from this, Harry carefully considered his answer, knowing full well that responding affirmatively was the perfect way to elicit her support and sympathy.

"OUT, OUT, OUT!" screeched Madame Hooch, who hypocritically didn't tolerate noise in her library and, much to his relief, Harry was temporarily spared from answering.

…..

Later that night Harry lay awake long after Ron, Dean, Seamus and Neville had fallen asleep. "Why yes, I am seeker for the Chudley Cannons, funny you should ask" muttered Ron in his sleep, and Harry grinned as he tried not to envision what Ron was dreaming. Soon, however, he returned to pondering Hermione's question. Certainly anxiety over a girl would explain his odd behavior of late- but since Cho there really wasn't anyone. Harry absentmindedly ran his fingers through his hair and oddly, somewhat randomly, found himself imagining Draco Malfoy's laughing face. Harry blinked, suddenly bewildered and, feeling disgusted with himself, closed his eyes and fell asleep.

…..

Draco was sitting by himself, and Harry strolled over and sat down. "What the?" inquired Malfoy, and Harry boldly and without hesitation replied "I've wanted to kiss you for a long time". Enjoying the surprised but not displeased look on the blonde boys face, Harry smiled. "Don't speak.."

This embrace was cut short by a shrill, unpleasant laughter that Harry knew could only belong to Ron Weasley. Blinking, he sat up, both mortified and disturbed by the dream he had just had. "Oh, I've wanted to kiss you for a long time" sand Seamus in a high pitched voice, as Neville, Dean and Ron roared with laughter.

"Go on then, tell us!" insisted Ron as Harry blushed furiously, finding little reassurance in the fact that it did not seem apparent his room-mates knew the full content of his dream.

"Yeah!" chimed in Neville "Who's the girl?". Harry stared blankly at his friends, at a loss for words and unsure how to respond. "Uh.. no one" he finished lamely and unconvincingly.

"Go on!" cried Ron "we're not stupid- it must be somebody… it's not Hermione, is it?" he asked suddenly, his eyes narrowing dangerously. Despite his concerns, Harry grinned at this and replied "Nah mate, she's all yours".

"What?!" spluttered Ron. "Me, like Hermione? Ridiculous. Preposterous!" As his room mates left for breakfast, Harry was granted some much needed privacy in the room. Cringing, he took his head in his hands. What on earth was going on?


	2. Always thought you liked Pansy

Always thought you liked Pansy.

I don't own these people- I wish I did.

Draco Malfoy had just experienced a day which at best could be described as shocking, and he had very little patience to listen to the inanely boring whining of Crabbe and Goyle. Fuming, he rose angrily from the dining table and sauntered towards the library- a room he detested but at least knew some solace could be found in. "Oh, Draco- where are you going?" he heard Pansy call behind him "Do you want some company?" Draco, who felt it wouldn't be prudent to answer truthfully, left the hall pretending that he hadn't heard her.

………………………

The library was almost empty- Draco had spotted Hermione and Harry running fearfully from the room as he'd entered and suspected they'd been thrown out. As he absentmindedly flicked through a book on ridiculously complex hexes Draco tried desperately to ignore the image of Harry Potter running, flustered, past him- which for reasons he couldn't explain had remained on his mind. "Bloody Potter" muttered Draco, as he found himself re-reading the same sentence for the eighth time. From across the room Ernie Macmillan looked at him scathingly. "And here I was thinking it was Pansy you liked" he taunted pompously. Draco pulled his wand from his pocket and muttered the words that filled the page he'd been skimming, then hurried from the room before Madame Pince realized he'd removed Ernie's teeth.

………………………

After frightening kissing third years by threatening to report them to Snape, Draco was able to sit in silence atop the astronomy tower. He knew neither Crabbe nor Goyle would worry- it wasn't uncommon for Draco to sneak away at night- though actually this was to obtain food from the kitchens rather than to embark on the romantic outings with Pansy he reported to his friends. In truth Draco had no interest in Pansy- nor any other girl at Hogwarts, for that matter. Still, as his father always reasoned, the girls at Durmstrang were far more respectable and worthwhile, and Draco had no doubt he'd meet someone after he graduated.

The image of Harry continued to permeate Draco's thoughts, and he tried desperately to ignore it. "Is that your boyfriend?" asked a fifth year who'd just ascended the stairs.

"What?!" replied a flabbergasted Draco.

"Oh, no" answered a second girl he'd not noticed- revealing that the question was, in fact, directed at her. "No, I'm waiting for Dean Thomas".

Greatly disturbed by the skip his heart had experienced following the misunderstanding, Draco, now identifying the second girl as the youngest Weasley, hurried in a state of distress and confusion down to his dormitory.


	3. Next to someone talented

Next to someone talented  
Disclaimer: J.K Rowling owns all of these people. But if you didn't already know that then you really won't get what this is about.  
I'm still new to the ff community- would love to hear what you think!

Professor Snape was in a shocking mood, and even the thought of the Gryffindor- Slytherin potions lesson he was about to teach; a class he usually found a certain perverse pleasure in taking; couldn't raise his spirits. Snape barely replied as an enthusiastic Draco Malfoy sauntered past, eagerly exclaiming a salutation, and he felt his eyes narrow dangerously as Harry Potter shuffled into the class. Sighing deeply he pointed one gnarled finger at the black-haired boy he so despised.

"Your potions of late have been abysmally poor, Potter, even by your near-non-existent standards" he hissed, vengefully. "My apologies to Mr Malfoy, but I think it'd aid the preservation of my sanity greatly if you perched yourself next to someone talented for the next few weeks".

Harry, who personally was of the belief that Professor Snape had been stripped of his sanity long ago, and felt the request unfair (he usually sat next to Hermione, easily a more competent student) nevertheless complied. Still uncomfortably aware of the unnerving dream his dorm mates had intersected, Harry bit his lip and tried to avoid making eye contact with Draco as he arranged his dog-eared books. Unbeknownst to Harry, Draco, sitting beside him, was trying to discredit the fact that his heart now raced and he felt strangely uncomfortable. 'I'm just angry he's sitting with me' reasoned Malfoy, though not fully believing his logic.

Snape had set the class a complicated potion assignment he was well aware the students were not capable of adequately performing, and it annoyed him that Hermione Granger, though obviously struggling, seemed to be performing the sequential steps relatively well. Sauntering over to Potter and Draco, he noticed that neither boy seemed to be attempting the difficult task.

"Well!" he thundered, alarming Draco who'd not before been greatly criticized by his favorite teacher. Looking startled, Malfoy turned to Potter, asking, "So, um- your cauldron or mine?".

Despite himself, Snape found himself guffawing with laughter. "What on earth was that, Malfoy? You trying to pick this failure of a student up?". His mood now much elevated, Snape strolled the length of the room, occasionally yelling at students, and generally feeling more cheerful.

"Mine has been damaged" muttered Harry awkwardly, after a very pregnant pause, mentally constructing an elaborate lie to cover, if contested, the fact that he was now blushing furiously. Wishing that he could sink into the floor, Draco mumbled a reply. "Loser", he added, for good measure, though neither he nor Harry was fooled into believing that there was any conviction behind this unwarranted insult.

Hermione, beaming as she completed her potion, turned to Ron, a now inquisitive look on her face.

"Have you noticed Harry's been acting a bit odd lately?" she asked furtively.

"I've noticed that I suck at potions" replied a non-committal Ron, swearing loudly as his failed potion erupted over the desk.


End file.
